Two additional people charged in connection with a 122 pound marijuana bust in Berthold last week are Chieng Long Yang, 48, of Oakdale, Minn., and Yia Vangxaishova, 37. St. Paul, Minn.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court by Berthold Police Chief Al Schmidt, he stopped Mason Elliot Mackenroth, 19, of Ham Lake, Minn., on June 28 for speeding on U.S. Highway 2. Mackenroth told Schmidt he traveled from Minneapolis to Sacramento by plane to visit family and had rented the vehicle to return home. Schmidt thought Mackenroth seemed nervous and suspected drug trafficking. He called in a drug dog and the dog alerted. Schmidt searched the vehicle and turned up the pot. Mackenroth told Schmidt that two Asian males in a white Nissan Altima with Utah plates were leading him. One of those men arranged the deal.

A Pierce County Sheriff’s Department deputy located the Nissan Altima and stopped it. A drug dog alerted on the Altima, but no contraband was found in the vehicle. Yang and Vangxaishova were both charged w`ith conspiracy to deliver marijuana, a Class A felony carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. They made initial appearances in district court in Minot on Friday.

Mackenroth was interviewed at the jail and told authorities this was the seventh trip he had made with Yang and Vangxaishova to bring marijuana from Sacramento to the Twin Cities area. Mackenroth was paid $8,000 to drive the pot. Mackenroth is charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, a Class A felony.

– Andrea Johnson